Published: November 17, 2008 09:25 pm      

Panel discusses jail debts, project, prisoner transfers

CHARLESTON — Counties in arrears on their bills at regional jails are moving to pony up after letters were sent out last summer, reminding them of their debts, an interims committee learned Monday.

Members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority were told the state could wean itself off a practice of sending troubled youths out of state, and that a project by Southern Appalachian Labor School wants a contract to turn the lives of offenders around.

Terry Miller, director of West Virginia’s regional jail system, told the panel his letter to counties was having the desired results.

“Most people are paying up,” he said. “It’s been very productive.”

Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, wondered if West Virginia could legally ship some inmates out of state, say to Virginia, to relieve the crowding in prisons, and thus provide more space occupied now by felons awaiting transfer out of regional jails.

Constitutionally, however, this isn’t possible, Love was told, due to a change implanted in the Constitution during the Civil War to prevent the holding of political undesirables hostage, when sentiments were divided in the two Virginias.

“Right now,” Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein told Love, a co-chair of the panel, “we have no legal right to explore that.”

On a more positive note, Dale Humphreys, director of Juvenile Services, promoted funding by the Legislature to expand in-state treatment of young offenders, rather than send them to out-of-state care facilities.

Going to another state runs up a $350 daily bill for each juvenile, while West Virginia could get the job done for $50 to $100, and, in some instances, as cheaply as $25, he said.

“We’re spending the money anyway,” he said. “We’re spending it irresponsibly.”

Given the huge gap in treating youngsters here and in other states, Humphreys said there exists “no logical excuse” to spend such money outside West Virginia.

He called for a $300,000 outlay to get the program running to the maximum, saying this could erase the out-of-state transfers within a year.

“I do think that it will be a tremendous savings to our state,” he added.

Southern Appalachian Labor School touted its program of working with ex-convicts in vocational assessment and evaluation, work adjustment training, job development placement, pre-employment and job search training, and educational services.

Similar programs are panning out well in other states, noted Dr. John David, chair of the social services department at WVU-Tech in Montgomery, including Operation Fresh Start in Wisconsin.

Already, SALS has a working arrangement with Fayette County’s community corrections program, with help from sheriff and senator-elect Bill Laird, he said, working out of a facility in Beards Fork.

“We have a lot of activity going on in Fayette County,” he advised the panel.

Love suggested Rubenstein pay a visit to the facility to see firsthand what SALS is doing to work with freshly discharged inmates.

“You may be very, very impressed at what you see there, and the potential that is in this,” the senator said.

Kathryn South, secretary of SALS, joined David in asking the panel to consider setting up a pilot project similar to the one in Wisconsin in a contractual program.

The idea is to convert former inmates into tax-paying citizens, rather than see them fall into a burden on the state, she said.

“There are many young people facing either going to jail or long-term probation,” South said.

“This is an alternative to that.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com